New monarch appointed as former kingdom Dahomey

New monarch appointed as former kingdom Dahomey

Kings from different districts of Abomey, Benin, arrive at the funeral of Dah Dedjalagni Agoli-Agbo, the monarch of the former military kingdom of Dahomey on 11 August 2018

A new ruler of the former military kingdom of Dahomey in present-day Benin was appointed on Saturday, after the death of the previous monarch, last year.

Dah Sagbadjou Glele succeeds Dah Dedjalagni Agoli-Agbo, who died in July 2017 at the age of 84. Dignitaries of royal families said after long discussions.

Modern kings of Dahomey have no formal powers under Benin's constitution, but retain much ceremonial, political and economic influence.

"The night was long, but a new dawn broke the kingdom of Dahomey," they said.

One of the people involved said that the nomination 'happy and consensual & # 39; and that Glele was a worthy successor to Agoli-Agbo, a former policeman with 41 women.

The kingdom of Dahomey existed for almost 400 years, until his last reigning king, Behanzin, was defeated by the French in 1894.

The country then became part of French West Africa.

Dahomey was a large regional power built on conquest and the slave trade, but also harbored important works of art and had a completely female military unit that the French called the "Amazons of Dahomey".